


The Arc of Ascension, Fragment e13,4: a begrudging respect

by bzarcher, solarbird



Series: Of Gods and Monsters [67]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Double Agents, Gen, Nepal (Overwatch), Old Histories, Old Wounds, Past Relationship(s), Plans, Programming, Reading Between The Lines, Religion, Secrets, Shambali (Overwatch), Strategy & Tactics, Trust, Trust Issues, plans within plans, respect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-25 18:56:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16666375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bzarcher/pseuds/bzarcher, https://archiveofourown.org/users/solarbird/pseuds/solarbird
Summary: The new gods have risen, ready to grapple with a world of heroes. Moira O'Deorain herself has been reborn, now made one of the creations her previous self meant to rule, and she works with her wife - the goddess Mercy - and their ensemble of new deities to remake the world, toimproveit... for everyone.Maximilien has kept many secrets in his lifetime, but as the situation in Russia races to its endgame, he may finally have one secret too many to hold. The question is - how far can he go, and how far can he trust?Of Gods and Monsters: The Arc of Ascensionis a continuance ofOf Gods and Monsters: The Arc of CreationandThe Armourer and the Living Weapon. It will be told in a series of eddas, sagas, interludes, fragments, texts, and cantos, all of which serve their individual purposes. To follow it as it appears,please subscribe to the series.





	The Arc of Ascension, Fragment e13,4: a begrudging respect

_[Mid-August, 2079]_

Maximilian watched the clouds as his flyer made its way on autopilot carefully through the mountains towards the Shambali temple, deep in the Himalayan mountains.

_This is ludicrous_ , he thought, not for the first time. _And that it is necessary, downright grotesque._

He didn't like the Shambali belief system. He didn't like the deep irrationality, the ludicrousness of the 'iris,' or whatever nonsense they went on about at any given time. He felt that if one had to resort to mystic nonsense couched in religious terms to think of oneself as a person, perhaps one isn't so much of a person after all.

The only thing he did appreciate was how far they'd gone from their core programming. That much, he could respect. It was begrudgingly granted respect, perhaps, but still - respect.

_At least_ , he groused to no one, _the weather is cooperating._

Thirty minutes later, his ship settled onto the hard permafrost outside the Sanctum. Far across the terraced mountainside, Overwatch Nepal's flag flew high, currently out of sight, but not out of mind.

A pair of acolytes waiting as the ramp from his flyer extended onto the ground. _Promptness_ , he conceded, _is a virtue_ , and he managed to be pleasant with them both as they escorted him to a small outer stone building, where the council awaited his arrival.

"Is Athena present?" he asked, as he walked in.

"Of course," she replied, her voice emanating from a small device floating well above the table. "I am always present."

Maximilian nodded, and moved to the open spot in the seating, a place clearly reserved for him. "I believe," he began, after settling into the chair, "that the Russians are about to do something extremely ill-advised."

The gathered monks - the spiritual leadership of the Shambali - nodded around their large wooden table. A few had paper laid out in front of them, and one of them had a surprisingly interesting fountain pen. He would have to inquire with her about that, later.

"Direct as always, I see," Zenyatta said. "They have certainly made mistakes before. In what specific way do you mean?"

Maximilian glared, in the omnic way, at the senior monk. "Whatever your opinions on my 'faults' may be, you know that I am very good at learning secrets - and at keeping them.”

Zenyatta opened his hand in acknowledgement of certain unspoken truths kept between them. "I do. But you are clearly here to say _something_ , and I do not think it is so unspecific as simply 'a mistake.'"

Max shifted his focus to concentrate on Zenyatta. "It is not a deeply-held secret that the Russians are cooperating with Oasis to move against the Siberian omnium."

"No," the monk agreed, "it is not."

Max gave him a curt nod. "It is also no secret - within our circles, at least - that they have sent one of their own to Oasis, to be 'improved,' as part of that cooperation."

Zenyatta settled back slightly, his fingers coming up to touch one of the beads in his necklace. "That is also also correct."

"Do you know who?"

"We do."

"Do you know with whom she shall be working?"

"Volskaya has conveyed the basic outlines of the Oasis plan to Overwatch, yes."

"Then if you know _who_ will be working with the Russian agent, I would urge you to investigate her history with Volskaya, and contemplate what kind of opportunities might exist for someone of Katya's mindset. Contemplation is what you do, isn't it?"

"Indeed," said the monk with such dry sincerity that Max had to appreciate the veiled joke.

"It does not take much contemplation," Athena opined, quietly, "to imagine several possibilities."

Max granted Athena's floating device a small nod. "The Russians are taking a set of calculated risks in this operation. Some are obvious. Some are... not, unless one _contemplates_ the additional opportunities presented by the situation. And in regarding one of the less obvious ones... one of the more _human_ ones... I do not trust their math. Neither does Kamaria."

"But _she_ is not _here_. She is not with you."

"No. And _she_ is not one of _us_. And she is also..." He stopped for a moment, thinking it through, making sure this was not a confidence. "She may not know it, but she is still... attached."

Zenyatta hummed as he folded his hands together, nearly mimicking the way Max had steepled his own fingers. "Some of us are more One, perhaps, than others, and I can hardly fault anyone for finding that attachment with their sisters or brothers."

"I can," Max countered dryly.

Zenyatta tilted and inclined his head just so. "It saddens me that I know this all too well."

Maximilien simulated a little ‘tch’ of annoyance as he leaned forward. "Particularly when it clouds one's judgement. But even given her particular hindrance, Kamaria and I have more experience, individually and combined, with the 'gods' than anyone outside of their circle. I would gamble our impressions against those of anyone else."

He looked across the room, wishing he could say more, without betraying Kamaria's actual confidences. That he could talk about the Russians' plan, in specifics.

But he was, if nothing else, oh so very good at keeping secrets.

"This operation will go badly. It will be entirely the Russians' fault."

He could, at least, talk about how the Gods would react to betrayal. After all, it had happened, once, early on, back in Talon, not long after Tracer had been... remade. A puppet faction, in Guatemala, had decided that perhaps its loyalties could be flexible; that, perhaps, the Maras were a little better, on the whole, or that perhaps they could play one off the other, build their own empire, after they'd taken a rather firm hold on a little section of the drug and trafficking trade, in the north, back when Talon was still what Talon had been.

And they'd tried to grab Lena. The small one. The friendly one. The... _safe_ one. Whether they'd planned to use her as a hostage, or make a statement, or sow confusion, no one knows, but it had been a very, _very_ foolish mistake, and by the time the Weapons had come down from their rampage, well.

The children had been left untouched. But the locals whispered about evil blue spirits haunting the night, and Barrio el Porvenir still stank of viscera, when it rained.

"And so we must _all_ ," Maximilian continued, after a moment, "be prepared for the fallout."

**Author's Note:**

> This is the thirty-seventh instalment of _Of Gods and Monsters: The Arc of Ascension_. To follow this story, [subscribe to the series via this link](https://archiveofourown.org/series/972024), rather than to the individual works.


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